Biogas plant comes under more scrutiny

John A. MacInnes

Criticisms have been raised over the ‘eco credentials’ being suggested for the proposed biogas plant at Greenhags.

The Extra has previously reported on the proposed green energy development, located at the Greenhags Waste Transfer Station in Newton Mearns.

The former Newton Mearns Community Council claimed that the developers, Greenhags Energy Company Limited lied to them at a meeting when asked where the raw material to ‘feed’ the plant would be sourced from.

Originally the company claimed that grass and sugar beet would be trucked in from the local area, but under further questioning they finally admitted that in fact none of it would be sourced locally.

The developers were forced into a u-turn when planning documents clearly showed the supplying farms were located as far away as Coatbridge and Bridge of Weir.

There are also further concerns that the gas produced will be of such poor quality, that it will require to be enhanced with propane, which will be stored on-site.

The local East Ren Green party have disputed that the proposals are a realistic alternative to fossil fuel energy, and in fact the plant could actually produce a higher carbon footprint.

At the most recent meeting, organised by Crookfur, Greenfarm and Mearns Village CC, the developers shocked those present by confirming that without ‘feed-in’ tariffs the project would not be viable! These tarrifs are a payment made for generating their own electricity through methods that do not contribute to the depletion of natural resources, proportional to the amount of power generated.

Concerns have also been raised about a conflict of interest with ERC owning the land and handling the planning application.